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"...it becomes nearly impossible to pirate that software without first hacking Apple’s data center in North Carolina." I'm not sure he's correct about this. As

"...it becomes nearly impossible to pirate that software without first hacking Apple’s data center in North Carolina." I'm not sure he's correct about this. As I understand it, software downloaded through the App Store is rather easily pirated if you know what/where to copy it. I think Apple is solving the problem from the opposite direction. Rather than try to prevent users from pirating software, they're A) making software prices far more accessible, and B) making the purchase and acquisition (download) of software ridiculously easy. This is built upon the theory that people generally want to do the right thing. Apple has (more or less) proved this with the success of the iTMS. If given a good value proposition and low barrier of execution, most people will purchase their music legitimately. Having said that, there will always be pirates, but this same theory says that "pirates will be pirates", and they never would have bought the software to begin with. If you can make your millions on legitimate users, why waste time crying over spilt milk? With the App Store, Apple is trying to bring to Mac software what iTMS and the iOS App Store brought to their respective markets.

wccrawford 15y ago
Yup. The key to defeating piracy is giving value for the money and not putting any roadblocks in the way of legal acquisition. Different people pirate games for different reasons. Some do it for the money, some do it because they just can't get the product, some do it because they can't get the product when they want it, some do it because they've been burned in the past and are covering their rear-ends, and others do it just because. The last one is never going to be a customer. All the rest can be converted, if you're willing to flex far enough. (Some of the money-based problems can't be overcome without pricing yourself too low, though.) In this day and age, the distribution problems are ridiculous. Steam sells a LOT of games because they can be downloaded at launch, instead of waiting for the mailman, standing in line at midnight, or just generally waiting on something. They even let you pre-load to save the download time as well.
thestoicjester 15y ago
I came in here to make the same point. I can attest first-hand that having software distributed by the app stores does not in the least make them pirate-immune.
DrJokepu 15y ago
All you need to do is disabling the receipt checking algorithm in the app, which, depending on the developer's talent and ingenuity, could be anything between trivial to pretty challenging.

wccrawford 15y ago

Yup. The key to defeating piracy is giving value for the money and not putting any roadblocks in the way of legal acquisition. Different people pirate games for different reasons. Some do it for the money, some do it because they just can't get the product, some do it because they can't get the product when they want it, some do it because they've been burned in the past and are covering their rear-ends, and others do it just because. The last one is never going to be a customer. All the rest can be converted, if you're willing to flex far enough. (Some of the money-based problems can't be overcome without pricing yourself too low, though.) In this day and age, the distribution problems are ridiculous. Steam sells a LOT of games because they can be downloaded at launch, instead of waiting for the mailman, standing in line at midnight, or just generally waiting on something. They even let you pre-load to save the download time as well.

thestoicjester 15y ago

I came in here to make the same point. I can attest first-hand that having software distributed by the app stores does not in the least make them pirate-immune.

DrJokepu 15y ago

All you need to do is disabling the receipt checking algorithm in the app, which, depending on the developer's talent and ingenuity, could be anything between trivial to pretty challenging.